For those who haven't had the chance to watch Canterlot Boutique I would advise against reading this topic.
As we've seen with many Rarity episodes and themes, Canterlot Boutique has Rarity facing a similar clash between herself and high culture. More importantly we see a particular focus on the theme of wealth vs success and yes even a major theme of capitalism going on. Much like how there's an underlying theme of the dangers of socialism with Starlight Glimmer, there's a similar but less significant theme of the dangers of capitalism with Sassy Saddles, Rarity's manager.
Its not just that Sassy Saddles misguided business strategy is sinister and based on greed, its also how reflective of dysfunctional, corrupt and real business practices can be. Just to name a few of the themes here are some of the more notable ones that tie into globalization also:
- high demand for mass production
- superficial celebrity appeal
- quantity over quality
- fixation over profit margins vs the quality of workers
- the loss of the worker's rights and freedom
Its not to say that Sassy Saddles was evil, nor that capitalism, like socialism, is wholly evil, but rather blind misguided applications of these ideals, like anything, can lead to disaster. The Rules of Rarity song sums up this theme regarding Rarity's business model as it relates to capitalism quite well:
At the risk of sounding overly political, its hard to deny what Rarity says here. She values a creative process, proper devotion, respect, and time to her work and clients with love. It makes her heart soar just to see her clients adore the clothes they wear. By contrast she despises the rigid and grueling work that has no place for creativity.
Its understandable too. Rarity after personifies the virtue of generosity, which comes from the heart of the individual. Set against a cold heartless virtue of corporate greed, the 2 cannot reconcile. It isn't the 1st time we've seen such a clash either. Rarity has in the past also clashed with desires for fame and wealth against her better generosity and integrity of her friends. She's also struggled with the class warfare of fitting in with wealthy individuals whether they be the Canterlot nobles, or the cutthroat professionals in Manehattan.
Of course we also see this clash of capitalism prominent with Applejack, notably in The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 9000 where we again see the theme of quantity vs quality and profit versus happiness.
What do you think then of the show's portrayal of capitalism and greed as it relates to Rarity and the Mane 6? Any notable examples that you see? It is of course, hard to see the Element of Generosity being a money grubber, even if she does get ahead of herself at times.